Menu

Read This: “Me Before You”

I’m currently in a book funk. My usual reaction to reading something striking is to alternatively mull and pout for days afterwards, because nothing I choose to read next can possibly be as good.

This time, I’m reacting to Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You. I suspect you’ve heard that title mentioned before. Oprah’s been talking about it (“To be devoured like candy, between tears”). The New York Times Book Review was also favorable, with the reviewer complaining straight off that “When I finished this novel, I didn’t want to review it; I wanted to reread it.”

Me Before You isn’t particularly unique plot-wise: A young woman who has resigned herself to a small life–dull town, domineering sister, distracted boyfriend–takes a job as a caretaker for a man who has been confined to a wheelchair at the peak of his dynamic life. They fall in love, and that’s when the interesting questions are asked:

Is love enough? Is it a disservice to oneself to accept life over death, if that life is miserable? Do humans have a duty to continually seek happiness?

Above all, Me Before You is a blazing Carpe Diem story. Most things you will try to read afterwards will pale in comparison.